'Physician advocates': a novel strategy for improving the value of hospital care by employing hospitalists part time to support non-hospitalist physicians.

Among inpatients cared for by private practitioners, adding Physician Advocates to multidisciplinary rounds was associated with improved LOS and reduced readmissions - measures of efficiency and value. The Physician Advocates approach should be tested in diverse health systems because it allows hospitals to leverage the expertise of on-site clinicians while respecting the traditional private-practice care model, in which primary care physicians manage their hospitalized patients.